Trade Aid

Making a World of Difference

Making a world of difference

Trade Aid - Little Bag/Big Difference

PROJECTS

Support for ongoing projects has continued unabated in 2018 and now into 2019, further establishing the influence that Trade Aid UK has been able to give to important relief programmes worldwide. Much of this has been enabled by the continued sale of Trade Aid UK Granulated and Caster Sugar through Tesco Stores and online at Ocado together with the sale of ethical travel insurance through its partner www.travelandinsure.com. The use of external aid agencies and charities has been instrumental in us being able to reach the remotest parts of the globe where often the needs are greatest. The individual aid projects supported by the Trade Aid UK Foundation can be viewed by simply scrolling up and down the project panel on this page and clicking on the project that interests you.

Water Project

Trade Aid UK supported the charity, Village Water, in 2013 and 2014, by providing funds to two of its well projects. Village Water provides hygiene education and sustainable water for rural villages in western Zambia. Village Water only install protected shallow wells with manual water pumps that allow the people to draw uncontaminated water from underground. In such isolated regions, connection to mains water pipes is not viable. An independent source of water must therefore be located in order for a well to be installed.

In Zambia, most rural villagers do not have access to enough clean water. A village woman often spends three hours a day carrying one 20-litre plastic container of water. This is not sufficient water for drinking, cooking and washing. Diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases are common and life-threatening. Diarrhoea, particularly among children, is one of the leading causes of infant mortality in Zambia and a major contributor to malnutrition.

Another important aspect of the work of Village Water is their Community-Led Total Sanitation Programme(CLTS). Villagers are educated in good hygiene practice and shown the benefits of self-help sanitation. Hygiene education focuses on helping the villagers to build awareness, firstly, what causes health-related problems and secondly, choosing what measures to take, in order to address the problem. Training focuses on water treatment, water collection, water storage and water use. Also covered is latrine building, latrine use, hand washing, food storage and preservation, excreta disposal and general cleanliness.

In 2012, Village Water supported hygiene, sanitation and safe water provision in 91 new communities and 8 schools. They also carried out repairs to 17 water points installed between 2004 and 2011 which were not working effectively. They also worked in 10 communities to improve their livelihoods through small livestock and high value vegetable production. More than 22,400 people directly benefited from Village Water's support.